


Ice

by rainbowgeek



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Slow Burn, The Cutting Edge AU, but not so mean it’s ooc is hard, for the beginning at least, he/they willie, hockey player Alex, ice skater Willie, they’re like 21 or something, trying to make them antagonistic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:20:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29195184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowgeek/pseuds/rainbowgeek
Summary: Alex got injured at the Olympics and lost his chance to be a pro hockey player.Willie missed out on a gold medal with a bad fall.When they’re brought together will they have what it takes to win? (If they don’t kill each other first?)Or: a The Cutting Edge au that absolutely nobody asked for but I did anyway(Also sorry this isn’t the greatest summary. I struggle)
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 46





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, I love The Cutting Edge. I was just thinking about the movie one night and my brain went “willex au” so here we are.  
> If you haven’t seen the movie I highly recommend it but you don’t need to have seen it to read this :)  
> Enjoy!

**ALEX**

Alex bolts upright in bed. 

“Shit.” 

He looks at the clock. 

“ _Shit!_ ”

He scrambles out of his bed, pulling on whatever clothes he can find, and sprints out the door. 

_ I made it to the fucking Olympics and I’m going to be late to the game. Good going, Alex.  _

**WILLIE**

Music blares over the speakers, light glaring off the stark white ice as skaters glide across the surface. 

Luke pulls him up into a lift, one Willie can tell is off. The feeling is confirmed when Trevor begins yelling before his skates even touch the ice. 

“This is the Olympics, William! Thirty million people just called their families in from the kitchen to watch the replay. What do you think this is? Junior pairs?”

“No. As I recall, back then you were still humiliating me in private,” Willie snipes. 

“Maybe that’s because you were still listening.”

“Well, if I’m going deaf, it’s because I’ve had you screaming in my ear for the last nine years!” Willie isn’t normally a very angry person but they’ve just about had it with Trevor’s shit. 

“I wanna see your ass in the air!” 

That does it.

Willie slowly skates back to the wall. A beat passes. 

“Until Hercules here learns how to lock his grip, this will have to do.” Willie turns around, sticks out his butt and skates away with giggles in his wake. 

The only thing he feels bad about is being rude to Luke. He likes him and they get along well, the heat of the moment just got to him. He’ll have to apologize later. 

**ALEX**

Alex dashes to the entrance of the stadium, still running even as the security guard begins speaking. 

“Name, son?”

“Mercer, US hockey!” he shouts breathlessly. 

“Hell, son, they’re just about to start!”

_ No shit.  _

Problem is, he can’t quite remember how to get to the ice. He takes off in the direction he thinks it is, hoping he won’t be too late. 

Right as he rounds a corner he collides with another body, knocking them to the floor. 

The first thing he notices is that it’s the most beautiful guy Alex has ever seen. The second thing he notices is the figure skates sitting next to him. 

“Does this go up to the ice?” he asks frantically. 

“Wh-what?” 

“Does this go up to the ice?” he points in the direction the guy came from. 

“Yes, but-” Alex begins running again and is already almost to the locker room when he realizes he didn’t apologize for knocking the boy over. He feels bad but he doesn’t have time to dwell on it. 

Quickly throwing on his gear, he heads onto the rink.

Alex makes it just in time but now he almost wishes he hadn’t. Germany was supposed to be easy. This was supposed to be a quick game. It’s anything but. The opposing team is putting up a good fight; it’s the third period and Germany is up by one goal. 

He skates with everything he has.

The puck is passed to him and he begins making his way down the ice as his teammates help clear a path. The ice scrapes under his feet with each push, body thrumming with the adrenaline. As he jockeys with an opponent, the goal comes into view. Alex lines it up and shoots. The puck flies through the air in slow motion, the goalie just missing it as it enters the net. They score and Alex is elated.

The feeling doesn’t last long as there’s a sudden crushing force slamming him into the boards. His head connects hard with the glass and stars enter his vision but he doesn’t blackout. At least not until the second body hits him. Alex crumples to the ground as his helmet skitters away.

**WILLIE**

Willie and Luke fly across the ice, exhaustion creeping in as they near the end of their long program. Luke pulls him up into their last lift and it’s okay... at first. As they try to switch positions they can’t get their grip locked in and suddenly he’s falling. Willie crashes to the ice, their body immediately aching. He’s distantly aware of the hushed chatter of the crowd and the clicks of the cameras going off around him. What’s more overwhelming is the pain, embarrassment, and bitter disappointment in himself.

**ALEX**

“You’ve lost 18 degrees of peripheral vision in your right eye. In most cases, this would be considered an inconvenience. But for a hockey player…”

“How long until it comes back?” The doctor looks at him with a pinch in his brows and Alex gets a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“You’ve had extreme trauma to your occipital lobe. It’s permanent.” 

“Th-there must be  _ something  _ you can do.” Alex pleads. The pinched expression on the doctor’s face only intensifies.

“Alex, I’m sorry. I don’t see professional hockey in your future.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Willie meet. It’s not great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Chapter 2! I’ve noticed I tend to get the most writing done in the middle of the night. So that’s fun.  
> Anyway. Hope y’all enjoy! 😊

**ALEX**

It’s been two years since the Olympics and Alex hasn’t slowed down at all. It doesn’t matter what the doctor said. If he just keeps pushing, keeps practicing, surely a team will overlook his sight loss.

**RAY**

Ray watches Willie’s partner fall to the ice exhausted, while Willie spins on like nothing has happened. 

“All right, Willie, enough.”

Willie comes to an abrupt stop, looking unimpressed. 

“Lovely, let’s do it again,” Willie says. 

Ray shoots them a look. 

“Do we or do we not have eight minutes left?” Willie raises an eyebrow.

“Enough for today.” Ray looks at the boy. “Perhaps you need a shower?” He nods gratefully and leaves the rink. 

“What he needs is a ride to the airport,” Willie says lowly. 

Ray shakes his head as Willie skates away. 

_He’s such a talented boy, why must he be so difficult?_

“He lasted a month.” 

Ray jumps a little at Caleb’s sudden appearance. “You should have been making them a single skater.” He huffs a small laugh. 

Caleb sighs. “So, where do we go from here?” 

“Two years, eight partners. Not a single one up to his standards.”

“What about Dante?”

“Dante said before he’d skate with Willie he’d wear garlic from his neck and sleep with a cross. So I’ll take that as a no.” Ray gives a tight smile. “I’m at the bottom of the barrel.”

Caleb levels him with an intense stare. “Then you find another barrel.”

**ALEX**

Alex walks into his apartment, eyes drifting to the slowly growing pile of rejection letters. He sighs as he sets down his bag. Giving up is the last thing he wants to do but with each rejection it gets harder and harder to continue trying. 

He’s tired. 

Alex’s thoughts are interrupted when Reggie comes barreling into the room. 

“Oh, good! You’re home!”

“Hello to you too,” Alex says dryly. Reggie just smiles at him.

“There’s someone here who wants to talk to you.” Reggie points towards the living room and Alex gives an exasperated sigh.

“Reg, you can’t just let random people into the apartment.”

“But he was just so nice… and he said he was a coach,” Reggie adds, like an afterthought.

After shooting one more concerned glance at Reggie, Alex makes his way into the living room. The man looks up at his approach, a kind smile gracing his features.

“Ah, Alex Mercer.”

“Yes, sir. That’s me.”

“Oh, there’s no need for that. “Sir” makes me sound so old,” he laughs, “I’m Ray Molina. You can just call me Ray.” He sticks out his hand.

“Ray,” Alex repeats as he shakes the offered hand. “Reggie told me you’re a coach?”

“That I am.” 

Alex feels a flutter of hope in his chest.

“What team do you coach for?”

“None. I’m not a hockey coach.” 

Hope is replaced by confusion. 

“So, what is this?” 

“Maybe nothing,” Ray says while pulling something out of his bag, “Here. They’re for you to try.”

Alex looks at the black boots being handed to him. “These are figure skates…”

**WILLIE**

Willie hears the scrape of the door opening, accompanied by an unfamiliar voice. 

“You’ve got your own rink.”

“We have ice every day.” 

Willie glides over to the edge of the rink where Ray is walking with the stranger in tow. “That’s not Dante. I thought you said he’d be here?”

“No, _you_ said Dante. This is Alex,” he says, gesturing to the boy behind him. Willie takes him in. Sun-kissed golden hair falling into blue-green eyes. Strong jawline and toned arms. 

He’s the most beautiful person Willie has ever seen. 

This only serves to frustrate them more.

“Well, I’ve never heard of him.” They cross their arms.

“Alex is a beautiful skater.” 

Alex gives Ray a small smile and offers his hand.

“Nice to meet you.” 

Willie just stares.

“It’s a tryout,” Ray says imploringly. 

Willie glances at him before finally taking Alex’s hand. “Oh, my god.” Willie pulls back.

“What? My hand?”

“What do you do? Soak them in battery acid?” 

Alex winces. “Uh… yeah. They’re, um, pretty rough from the hockey stick.” 

Willie turns to Ray. “A hockey player? _Really_?”

“Wait a minute.” Alex turns too. “Who’s checking out who here?” 

Willie whips around. “I don’t know how many slap shots you’ve taken to the brain, but this was your audition. It’s over.”

“Hey, Bambi, relax. I’m no figure skater. I’m a hockey player.” He pinches the bridge of his nose before looking at Ray. “Temperamental, was it? That may have been an understatement.” 

Willie gasps. “Is that what you told him!” 

Ray gives a small shrug. 

“I don’t know why you’re being so rude, but this was obviously a mistake. I’m leaving.” Alex turns and begins walking away. 

“Alright!” Ray interrupts. “Introduction is over. Conversation finished. Mouths closed, ears open. Pairs means two.” He gives Willie a meaningful look. “You have no partner. You’re skating nowhere.” Willie huffs and crosses his arms. Ray turns on Alex. 

“And where are you going? I’m sorry, Alex, but I’m the last person who’s going to come looking for you. You know it and I know it. This is your last shot.” 

When neither of them speaks Ray nods.

“Good. Now, we skate.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I’d like to thank @karetaylor so much for beta reading for me! I don’t know what I’d do without her. ❤️

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope y’all liked it!  
> I don’t really have a planned posting schedule, it will just be whenever I finish a chapter.  
> You can find me on tumblr @julie-n-phantoms


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